Two Sides of a Coin
by ShiriTorii
Summary: It's another Shizaya x TsuPsyche story
1. Ikebukuro Rush

Two Sides of a Coin

Chapter 1

Orihara Izaya, information broker, 23 years-old, likes ootoro sushi, loves humans, hates Heiwajima Shizuo.  
Heiwajima Shizuo, debt collector, strongest man in Ikebukuro, loves peace, hates Orihara Izaya.

How can two people whose only relationship is that of a snake and a mongoose ever have a truce?

"Tom-san, can you stop narrating in the background and instead lead us to the next client?" Shizuo grumbled in irritation as his employer began to point out the pecularities of the relationship between Shizuo and 'that louse'. Sensing, Shizuo's increasing anger, Tom stopped mid-sentence and wisely changed the topic. No subject can best make Shizuo lose his temper other than the subject of Orihara Izaya himself.

The two traversed the streets of Ikebukuro on a daily basis, seeking out the poor bastards who made the mistake of borrowing money from Tom's loan shark establishment. Of course, those poor bastards never knew that they had to face Shizuo's infamous strenght if they can't pay on the deadline.

They were each off in their own worlds when out of nowhere, a white furry 'thing' launched itself on Shizuo crying.

"Tsugaru-tan~! WAAAHHH! I was looking for you!" said the furry white thing. Its arms nearly choked Shizuo as it held on for dear life. Its crying face was buried in Shizuo's neck but Tom-san could never mistake that wave of black hair peeking out of the white jacket. Orihara Izaya's face was certainly under those black bangs.  
Face turning pale, Tom tried to find coherence in the scene he was looking at right now. One, Tom was probably still dreaming. Two, Izaya had gone completely bonkers. Three, Izaya was on a suicide run. Four, this will probably never happen but there's a 0.00000000001% possibility that Shizuo had made up with Izaya.  
The look on Shizuo's face quickly eradicated the percentage of option 4 ever happening.

With a solid grunt, Shizuo grabbed the back of Izaya's jacket and tried throwing the smaller man off him. Izaya however, was tenacious as his hands locked tight around Shizuo's neck. The black-haired boy was still crying though, oblivious to the fact that he was now clinging to a raging rhino hell-bent on shredding him to little pieces.

"Tsugaru, Tsugaru, Tsugaru!"

Tom-san was still in confusion as to why Izaya would purposely feed himself to Shizuo's wrath. It was then that he took notice of Izaya's strange garments and his facial features through the tears.

"Shizuo, SHIZUO! Stop, stop that. This guy isn't Izaya! Listen to me for a moment!" Tom cried out in a panic. Shizuo seemed to hear his employer through the haze of his anger and went still. He was breathing heavily though and the veins of his temple stood out.

"Tsugaru, Tsugaru. Tsugaru. I lost you." Izaya continued to cry in a completely different voice. It wasn't that mocking voice that constantly grated on Shizuo's nerve, it was a wholly different voice.  
"Oi, can you get off my back?" Shizuo said calmly, realizing he wasn't dealing with the louse right now. He noticed the white jacket similar in style but completely different from the louse's usual attire. The white shirt and jeans that Shizuo knew Izaya doesn't have and the pink headphones that that louse will never wear in his whole life.

The Izaya-look-alike dismounted Shizuo's back hesitantly. He then clumsily wiped off his tears with the sleeves of his jacket and only managed to smear snot and tears all over his face again. Tom-san sighed in resignation and pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket and began cleaning the boy's face.  
"Let's talk somewhere else," Shizuo said as more people began to gawk at the three of them.

"What's your name?" Tom asked. They were sitting in a park and Shizuo had gone to fetch something to drink for the kid.  
"Saike;" the boy answered. Saike's eyes were pink instead of red and tears were threatening to fall again as he struggled to retain his composure. "I came here with Tsugaru-tan but we got seperated in the subway and now I'm lost and he's angry with me. He said that I should stay in one place if I got lost but there were some mean people in the subway and they started chasing me and now I don't know where I am. I ran as fast as I could and ended up in that street where I met you and Tsugaru-tan again!"  
"Calm down now. We'll help you find your Tsugaru-san. Now, can you tell me where you were supposed to go with Tsugaru-san?" Tom asked feeling a bit sorry for the boy. Saike probably mistook Shizuo for this Tsugaru, it was his only misfortune that he looked the spitting image of Izaya.  
"Did you get anything out of him?" Shizuo suddenly asked from behind them. He had coffee for Tom, oolong for himself and orange juice for the kid. Saike readily accepted the can and drank thirstily from it. All the while, his eyes were on Shizuo.

"You really look like Tsugaru-tan, mister." Saike suddenly chirped up. "Only, Tsugaru-tan wears a kimono and has these really blue eyes and doesn't shout at me like you did." The kid suddenly began to pout as thoughts of his companion came back to him again. "I hope Tsugaru-tan doesn't get lonely without me. Ya know, he gets lonely real easy and cries easy too." Saike said all this though he himself looked like he was on the verge of tears again.

"Definitely not him." Tom and Shizuo said in unison.

Chapter 2 Meanwhile, in Shibuya.

Namie was home with a cold and Izaya's day was free. He wanted to go eat sushi at Russian Sushi but he was currently caught in a situation even he can never cook up. And the name of that situation was Tsugaru.

It all started after Izaya got off the Fukotoshin line. As usual, the subways were packed like sardine cans and movement was limited even with Izaya's agility. Just as he was on the verge of being swallowed by the wave, a helping hand reached out and pulled him out of the mob easy. As Izaya was about to thank his saviour, he was suddenly pulled along by him and out of the subway.

"Saike, I told you not to let go of my hand," Izaya's saviour said. "Are you alright?"  
"I'm fine, it was a tight fit there so let me recover my- Shizuo-san?" Izaya instinctively reached into his pocket for his flick knife readying it for the moment Shizuo decided to launch him through the air.  
"Uh, no. My name is Tsugaru, Saike. Did you get bonked in the subway? Did you hurt your head?" Shizuo asked in concern as he reached into his kimono's sleeve.

Wait.  
A kimono? Shizuo would never wear a kimono.  
But the fact that Shizuo was right now wearing a light blue kimono and smoking a kiseru instead of a cigarette didn't escape Izaya's discerning eye.

Izaya noticed some differences as well, such as this man's blue irises and that elegant air he had around him that Shizuo can never exude.

"Tsugaru-san, was it?" Izaya asked tentatively. The blonde man sighed in relief and stopped looking through his sleeve. "I'm afraid you have the wrong person." Izaya said awkwardly.

"Eh? What do you mean?"


	2. Russian Sushi

Part II: Russian Sushi

"One sushi set, make it fatty tuna. Oolong tea."

"Ah, just water for me please."

Simon can only stare at the scene before his eyes with bated breathe. He readied himself to break up a fight as the inevitable face-off between Izaya and Shizuo threatened to start inside Russian Sushi. Of course, the Master would not like this, but Simon can't just toss the two out on the streets. After all, Izaya alone was a splendid spender. Not to mention, Tom-san during one of his successful collection rounds was never thrift with his earnings.

Izaya can't blame Simon for looking like he did. He'd expected it, those open-mouthed expressions of anticipation, slightly nervous fidgeting, exagerrated whispers that will only build towards an explosion. This is what Ikebukuro was like, everything becomes exagerrated, a molehill can become a mountain, a small dispute can precede a war. Of course there's always someone controlling everyone behind those situations. And who else has more influence, more infamy deeply ingrained in Ikebukuro other than Orihara Izaya himself.

However, though Izaya can lay claim on the most major chain of events in Ikebukuro, he can never cook-up anything as wild or as crazy as the existence of both Tsugaru and Saike. But the fact that he was currently eating a leisurely lunch across the table with someone who was the spitting image of Shizuo was too much even for Izaya's crazy meter to encompass.

"Okay, one ootoro sushi set with oolong tea, and one glass of water." Simon said loudly as he entered Room 1 of Russian Sushi. As soon as Izaya and Shizuo entered, the black-haired man had everyone in Room 1 evicted and they had taken over. The previous occupants didn't find the guts to say anything after Izaya said he'll take care of their bill as well.

"And Master made some extra sashimi. If you'll have some, Shizuo-kun." Simon said. He slid over the small plate of sashimi to the kimono-clad Shizuo. Surprisingly, the latter only made to take the plate after he somehow realized Simon was talking to him.

"Ah, domo domo. Please convey my eternal gratefulness to the Master. Indeed, I have not taken any food ever since this morning." Shizuo said politely. He even made a little bow when Simon made his way out.

"Master, I very sick. I think I should puke in the kitchen." Simon said.  
"Don't say 'puke' in front of the customers!"

"Is it really alright for us to dawdle here, Izaya-dono?" Tsugaru asked anxiously. Nearly 30 minutes had passed since he and Saike got separated. The poor thing must be in tears by now. Though of the same age, Saike had been placed in Tsugaru's care ever since they were children. They rarely seperate and the blond man was very concerned of his ward.

"It's fine, it's fine. We'll find him soon enough. I've sent out messages to several people well-versed in that area. Might as well enjoy our lunch while we wait." Izaya said flippantly as he began eating his sushi.

"Ah, this is the best. You know, I've always been a stickler for good sushi and so far Russian Sushi has the best ootoro sushi in Ikebukuro. Even the shops in Shinjuku can't equal Russian Sushi."

"Uh-huh... Indeed, even their sashimi has a rich taste. I've had the sushi from *Aragawa, but this taste is quiet exceptional. Perhaps, this is what people call the common taste?" the kimono-clad youth said innocently. His manners were impeccable from what Izaya observed. And judging from his speech and actions, this person had probably never seen the street.

"Aragawa eh..." Izaya answered. Suddenly, his fatty tuna didn't seem that delicious anymore. He pushed aside his plate and instead took up his glass. His attention was on the party next door. Several times he thought he heard Shizuo next door but it was probably Tsugaru's voice (so like that monste'sr) echoing in their small room.

"Let's leave soon." the black-haired man said just as his cellphone rang. Celty's number was on the register.

[Something is up.] Celty typed into her PDA. Shinra had just returned from another job when Celty's pacing figure greeted him in front of the elevator.

"Hm? What could possibly upset you this much Celty? Well, other than that cop and your head..." Shinra asked curiously. He made his way to the living room and flomped tiredly on the couch. He felt Celty follow him silently and suddenly found the PDA shoved in fron of his face.

[I just got a message from Shizuo when Izaya called in.]

"So? It was probably coincidence. Anyway, do you think there's a chance I'll be getting a massage soon? You know, as a sort of newlywed-couple-gift-that-sorta-thing?" Shinra asked hopefully. However since his voice was low as he asked, he wasn't heard over Celty's typing fingers.

[It's suspicious! As well as wierd.]

"Eh? Let me see the messages." the young doctor asked. "Eto...let's see here."

[Celty, d'you know where I can find that Izaya? His office keeps giving me his machine. Forward me his number or sumthing. I'll be at Russian Sushi for lunch.] read Shizuo's message.

Shinra had to admit, things are getting wierder as time goes by but Izaya's voice message gave him the shivers.

[Celty-san~ Do me a favor and get that Ikebukuro monster to Russian Sushi before lunch ends. Me an Shizuo'll be having a heart-to-heart talk later. Ja ne~ Oh, and if ever you see me later in town, can you bring me over to Russian Sushi as well. Don't mind me if I refuse or run away. Just kidnap me, will you?]

"Well... I have to admit, that is wierd. What can those two be cooking up now?" Shinra wondered aloud. "Are you going then?" he asked Celty.

The female dullahan ploped down besides him on the couch and gave a shadowy sigh. [I already messaged Izaya. I'm still thinking about telling Shizuo.]

"Why don't you just give him Izaya's number? Shizuo'll probably call him instead."

[I think I'll do that. Today... I think I've had too much. Let's take a bath instead.]

"Really! Together! CELTY!"

Shizuo's cellphone rang just as he was going through Russian Sushi's doors. Simon greeted him with a queer look which was probably because of the Izaya-clone tagging behind him. Several times on their way to lunch, Saike had wandered off gaping at things that was cute in his dictionary. Shizuo on the other hand found nothing appealing about a life-size authentic [Made in China] skeleton.

The kid was more trouble than Izaya in terms of baby-sitting. Saike was active, prone to getting lost, easy to bully and quick to cry. Shizuo had already had to look for him several times before they even got 1km near Russian Sushi. Tom-san was no help at all, he had already made his getaway earlier on when he had sensed that Saike was too much to handle.

"Ah, Shizuo-san! Welcome back, did you change clothes?" Simon asked as the two came in. Shizuo in irritation, Saike nearly in tears again at Simon's large appearance.

"Again? I just came in, Simon. What are you talking a-" the blonde man stopped mid-sentence when a familiar figure came out of the private rooms.

Tsugaru was still worrying about his Saike when Izaya finished his call. To appease the blonde man, the informant decided to order more food while they wait. Basing on Celty's phone call, it won't be long before what they were looking for would come to them on it's own two feet.

However, what he wasn't prepared for was Shizuo's livid face as he nearly roared the house down with his familiar shout. Tsugaru chose that time to peek out of the room.

"IZAYA!"

"Ah! Shizzy-chan!

"Saike! Where were you?"

"TSUGARUUU~~~~!"

Chaotic End? 


End file.
